A UN panel said Wednesday that Libyan government forces have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes, apparently as a result of orders given by Moammar Gaddafi and other senior officials.

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The UN investigators said they received estimates of 10,000-15,000 people killed since February and added there is evidence that opposition forces also committed "some acts which would constitute war crimes."

The three-member panel based its finds on interviews with 350 people in government and rebel-held parts of Libya, as well as in refugee camps in neighbouring countries.

Systematic attack
It concluded that government forces committed murder, torture and sexual abuses "as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population" before and during the conflict that started in February.

"Such acts fall within the meaning of 'crimes against humanity,'" the panel said.
It also found "many serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by government forces amounting to 'war crimes.'"

"The consistent pattern of violations identified creates an inference that they were carried out as a result of policy decisions by Gaddafi and members of his inner circle," it said.

UN Human Rights Council
The panel's 92-page report, commissioned in February by the UN Human Rights Council also found that rebel forces committed "some acts which would constitute war crimes."

"The commission is not of the view that the violations committed by the opposition armed forces were part of any 'widespread or systematic attack' against a civilian population such as to amount to crimes against humanity," it added.

ICC
The panel was led by Cherif Bassiouni, a professor of law at DePaul University in Chicago. Bassiouni, an Egyptian, was assisted by Jordanian jurist Asma Khader, and Canadian Philippe Kirsch, a former judge at the International Criminal Court.

The ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Campo, has previously said he has "strong evidence" of crimes against humanity committed by Gaddafi's regime.

Last month Moreno Campo asked judges to issue arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam Gaddafi and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi, accusing them of committing crimes against humanity by targeting civilians in a crackdown against rebels.

The UN experts called on both sides to conduct transparent and exhaustive investigations and bring those responsible for abuses to justice.